Last Valentine's Day

This Twine piece sees you reliving the same Valentine’s Day over and over again, repeating the time you find your partner has left you, and trying to change things.

I’m going to be honest and say that I wasn’t sure what was happening. For example was this in the player’s mind as they repeated, or a literal time loop, or a mix of the two. I’d favour the former, and it being a case of coming to terms with their life.

I certainly found most peace in the game as I engaged more with the world around me, rather than rushing home to get there in time. The little vignettes of life that you encounter around were fascinating, and intriguing how they altered between loops.

One thing I found frustrating was how you would often only see part of a message from the partner who leaves. That message also changes. The incomplete picture made it hard for me to understand them, and what had happened. it felt like a selfish view of the world from the player’s perspective. Which of course everything boils down to in the end. But for a game where loss of another person is so fundamental I felt that person was too far out of reach, not defined well enough. Equally though that was also rather poetic, as the player struggles to attain a new sense of self.

So yup, not quite sure what was happening. I often miss allusions and metaphors, and benefit from things being spelled out plainly. But the writing was otherwise strong, and I found it quite a moving piece. Though something was still just frustratingly out of reach.